What’s troubling Chandan Roy Sanyal?
Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal is known for his method acting and the portrayal of some powerful characters — but there’s a bit of a snag.
“I have put on so many faces during my career that it has become a bane in my life — no one knows how I look in real life,” he says. “It’s actually a nice compliment, if you see. It means that people love what I’ve done, and relate to me by those characters,” adds the actor, who was in films like the Shahid Kapoor-starrer Kaminey (2009); the comedy F.A.L.T.U. (2011); the Aishwarya Rai Bachchanstarrer Jazbaa (2015); and this year’s Shah Rukh Khanstarrer Jab Harry Met Sejal. He will be seen playing a sous chef in the upcoming film, Chef, starring Saif Ali Khan.
“You know, when I’m playing a certain role, I try to become that character. I put in an effort to behave like it, dress like it, and I try to bring the complete energy into that role. It’s amazing that some of the characters have resonated with a lot of people,” he says.
However, his fans have a “real tough time” recognising him off-screen, says Chandan. “We were promoting a film, and there was this beautiful girl who came up to me, and asked me if I was part of the crew. When I introduced myself, she recognised my name from some other film, and said, ‘Oh, but you look so different from that character you played in that film’. And then she was sorry that she couldn’t recognise me,” he recalls with a laugh.
Perhaps the most love (or hate) the actor got was when he played a rapist, Miyaaz Shaikh, in Jazbaa. “My fans... kept on saying, ‘kill him,’” he says. “That’s the kind of response I want from viewers.”